Some business experts say that you need to lose money to make money; J. Alexander Martin went the extra mile and spent millions of dollars while establishing his brand.

Alexander Martin’s new book, Money Makes Me Crazy: How I Squandered Millions of Dollars Building the FUBU Empire, uses his story to break down financial success.

Martin, co-founder of FUBU, used his money to turn a neighborhood business into a international brand. FUBU, which stands for “For Us By Us,” is a billion-dollar clothing line that was established in 1992.

In Money Makes Me Crazy, Martin studies his own journey to success with the help of Ted McLyman, a behavioral finance expert. Throughout the book, Martin and McLyman lay out a story that illustrates the ups and downs of building a company and keeping finances in order.

A big part of Martin’s journey was learning his own money temperament, and he now knows that he’s a spender. Though it seems obvious in retrospect, Martin found that knowing his own money values changed the way he spends his money.

Now that he knows he’s a spender, Martin focuses on spending his money effectively, rather than trying to not spend it at all. As the current Vice President and Creative Director of FUBU, Martin now invests his time and money toward up-and-coming trends, spending on worthwhile endeavors that ultimately bring his money back.

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